, 1887-05-19

queer bust Of an Indian in bronze placed on
the top of marble pedestal The pedestal 10
Of box like shape, and the bust OF the In
dian Is cut of straight at the chest and set
fat upon this marble. It looks for all the
world as though the rest Of the bronze Indian
was concealed within the pedestal, and the
statue has como to be known as "the Indian IN
the box" In Statuary hall there Ia bust OF
Abraham Lincoln which represents him with
robe thrown round his shoulders. 1t Is in
marble, and 1t looks good deal more like
naked head and shoulders with q sheet draped
around them than anything else These are
two Of the ridiculous features Of the art of
the Capitol, and the great building has many
others which are like unto them. The pict-
ures In the rotunda are full Of Inconsistencies.
Miles Standsh, In the "Landing Of the Pill
grinis," has foot which belongs to a man
who must have been, II nature made him In
just proportions, at least eight and
half feet high, and Standish was, you
know, Of middle size. This picture at the
right which represents the Signing OF the
Declaration OF Independence, was dubbed
by John Randolph, Of Roanoke, tho "Shin
Picture" on account Of the row Of statesmen
in knee breeches sitting In front Of the
speaker, and each with one leg thrown over
the knee of the other. After the picture was
completed this feature Of II was 30 much
laughed at that tho artist was directed to
change It, and he did IL by painting tables
In front Of some of the statesmen to conceal
their legs. Overhead, In this dome, Is
Brunidi's fresco. Il represents Washington
on the right and victory on the left. with
thirteen female figures representing tho thir-
teen states, and the whole making up q series
OF wonderful pictures. Brumidi got for this
$50, 900, and he put In his own work at &39,-
Ia L. Lu.. l~~ns E-x<. nS,<N
tho tradition here Is that tho faces Of tho
beautiful women which look down into the
rotunda from the ceiling above were modelled
after those Of certain women OF questionable
reputation with whom tie artist was ac-
quainted. .%s
Perhaps the most laughed at statue at the
Capitol Is that Of George Washington which,
naked to the waist, sits on . great marble
chair In front Of the entrance portico. This
statue was begun by Horatio Greenough, In
1889. The original idea was to make 1t q
pedestrian statue and to put it in the rotunda.
The price was to be 5000 and Greenough
began the work in Florence. He got con-
gress TO increase the price to go, 900, and the
statue was completed, think, in 1S4O. It
made a great fuss in this country at that
time, and the question was how to get it here.
BY the direction Of congress tho secretary Of
the navy ordered the commander Of the
Mediterranean squadron to put 1t on board Of
one of his men Of war at Genoa and send 1t to
Washington. But this was before the days
Of much railroading, and the statue weighed
twentyone tons. 1t was q big job to carry
1t from Florence to Genoa. A ponderous car
was erected for it, and it was hauled by
twenty-five yoke OF oxen. As IL passed
along the Italian peasants took 1t for an
image Of a saint and knelt to it and said their
prayers. 1t was found that the hatchway of
the man OF war was not large enough to ad-
NIT it. and it then became necessary to
charter merchant vessel.
This vessel delivered it at the Washington
navy yard, and a description of the new
statue was sent over the country. When the
prudish patriots OF the days of 1S+O found
that the pedestrian statue which they had
ordered was sitting in a chair and that ii was
half naked, q burst of horror went up, and
Henry A. Wis, OF Virginia, declared in .
speech in congress that "ths man does not
live and never did live who ever saw Wash-
ington without his shirt" 1t cost a big sum
OF money To get the stntus from the navy
yard TO the Capitol building, and it was then
found that the doorway was too small by
fourteen inches to admit IL. The masonry
was cut away 50 that il coald be taken into
the center of the rotunda, and here fresh
difficulty arose. The floor was too weak to
bear up the twentT-ons tons and a solid
pedestal had to be erected from the basement
to the floor Of the rotunda. After this was
done and the statue was placed under the
dome, 1t was found that ii WAS too large to
look well, and the next year congress moved
it outside and put a shelter over il. 1t has
been moved several times since then and the
shelter has been taken away. One Of the
toes has been broken OF, and il looks very
cold and stiff when the snow piles up OH
George Washngtons bosom. The statue
presents Washington with one hand uplifted,
and Allen G. Thurman used to say that
Washington was pointing toward the patent
office were his relics were kept, and inutely
beseeching that his suit OF regimentas he
brought to keep away the cold. The statue
is out Of place. and though Greenough
thought it was his greatest work, ana once
said he was willing to rest his fame upon it, it
is failure. a*a
Clark Mills has an equestrian statue of
Washington on granite pedestal in Wash
ington circle. This is at the west OF the
White House and just at the edge OF the en-
trance TO Georgetown, 1t il a much better
work than that of the jackson statue, which
stands on its heels in Lafayette park. Mills
got &lO0 900 for the two, and it is said that
when he was given the commission to erect
the Jackson statue he had never seen an
equestrian Statue, anu tDc iue8 was entiTely
his own. The position is too strained, how
ever, for a thing Of this kind, and the day Of
the equestrian statue is, il seems 70 me, pass
ing away. People are beginning TO laugh at
the trying to honor a man by the bronze
image of his fayorite horse, even ss visitors
TO the White House laugh at President Ar.
thurs vanity when they see his portrait,
which rrpr"-, = his sbapely form clad in a
cho''illt ov"r'r.' w'th IA velvet collar.
We have I'IIu ', ""ii, sfrian statues
here. Gen. Il"lnnS n " occupy
about Sjo,WO worth uf a.
Thomas circle, aud it makes tn- lax luy"r
happy when lie remembers that the p"'irotal
on which this horse stnnds cost S2J,0Ol and
that the four bron2"'l lamp post, around the
nHs" cost Slubn n piece. Nuu never hear any
tniug Of Gen. Grecur's statue in the papr,S,
but il cost stjO,oOU. ami il stands in II park
northeast OF the Capitol surrounded 10y negro
i.